Before We Kiss (Fool's Gold #14)

She sat at her desk and turned on her computer. There were several emails from Larissa. The sick cats were still with Cameron while the rest had been sent to their foster homes. She was taking applications for permanent adoptions and would be setting up a booth at the upcoming Book Festival.

There were other emails from clients and a note from Fayrene, who wanted to set up a time to talk about her wedding. Dellina scrolled through the list again, but there was nothing from Sam. She’d already checked her phone and he hadn’t left a message or sent her a text.

Not that she had expected he would. But it would have been nice to hear from him.

One of the cats rubbed against her leg. She bent down and petted him, scratching behind his ears.

She wasn’t sorry for telling Sam the truth—despite the outcome. Mostly because she’d been brave. She’d put her feelings into words. She’d been honest and if he was too stupid to figure out she was a prize worth pursuing, then she was better off without him.

“Or not,” she murmured. While she wouldn’t take back telling him what she felt, she sure would have liked a better response. Something slightly more neutral than disappearing from her life.

She brushed away tears she hadn’t realized were falling, then turned her attention to her email. She had a business to run and a life to live. She needed to get on with things. As for her broken heart... Well, that wasn’t going away anytime soon, but she would figure a way to deal. She always had before.

* * *

SAM HAD DONE his best to figure out a way to avoid his second lecture on finances and small businesses. The last thing he’d wanted to do was have to face people who would be angry with him because of Dellina. He wasn’t sure which was going to be worse. The accusations or the fact that so many people knew about what had happened.

But no one had said a word. The crowd was larger this time. He’d kept his lecture short and gone into the Q and A. Now nearly an hour into answering questions, he finally accepted that the reason no one was saying anything was that no one knew. Dellina hadn’t told anyone.

“Yes, online banking is safe,” he said. “Just make sure you follow all the protocols. Also, you want an extremely secure password. That means avoiding passwords that are your business name or your kid’s birthday. Anything else?”

When no one asked another question, he thanked them for coming and collected his notes.

The people attending stood and began talking to one another. He heard snippets of conversation about the cat rescue and the start of the upcoming Book Festival. But not a word about him and Dellina.

Hadn’t she told her friends what had happened? Didn’t she want to get drunk and call him names? Or say that she missed him? Except the latter was wishful thinking, he told himself. Just because he wanted to go see her, to explain, to...

To what? Ask her to put things back the way they had been before? It wasn’t possible. The words had been said. She loved him.

Sam closed his briefcase and wished he could put a fist through the wall. She loved him. Dammit all to hell but he wanted to believe her. Wanted to think they could make it work. Because if there was anyone whom he could trust, it was her.

Except he knew what would happen. Oh, not the specifics, but the outcome. Something terrible would end things. Some disaster. It had always been that way. He had the scars to prove it. Dellina couldn’t possibly be different. But he sure wanted her to be.

He started toward the door. Patience stopped him.

“My accountant is thrilled with my new financial literacy,” she told him. “Thank you so much for doing this. I know it’s a big-time suck for you and probably not very interesting, but it’s helping so much.” She wrinkled her nose. “I have a degree in business and put together a financial plan for Brew-haha, but none of that prepared me for real-world problems.”

“I’m happy to help,” he said. “Believe it or not, I like doing this.”

“I’m glad. With your help, we’re all going to do better.”

A few more people spoke to him before he left. They were all pleasant and complimentary.

Rather than heading directly back to Score, Sam walked through town. He found himself nodding at people he didn’t know and speaking to those he did. And he knew a lot. He couldn’t go more than half a block without having to stop and talk to someone who wanted to know about the cat rescue or mention how nice his guests had been over that weekend.

Speaking of the cats, there were signs everywhere with pictures and a number to call. Apparently Larissa was going to host an adoption booth at the upcoming festival. Sam thought about his empty house. Because when he’d walked away, he hadn’t bothered taking any cats with him. Nor had he thought to mention his willingness to foster with Larissa. From what he could tell—that didn’t matter. She had plenty of help from the town.